


The princess in the tower - Loki fanfic

by ilse_writes



Series: Loki & Ylva alternate universe stories [4]
Category: Loki - Fandom
Genre: Alfheim, Cute, F/M, Teenage Ylva, The kids are longtime friends, They play games, Thor and Loki visit Alfheim with their parents, With a dose of fluff, Ylva is a Light Elf princess, teenage loki, teenage love, teenage thor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 16:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17625632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilse_writes/pseuds/ilse_writes
Summary: Loki and Thor visit the Light Elf realm with their parents. It's been a while, they used to visit Alfheim all the time as kids. The princes and princess of Alfheim are all grown up now, something Loki and Ylva especially notice. The kids are all teenagers now, almost adults, yet they still like to play games. But what if one of them takes the game a little too serious?





	1. Chapter 1 - Frigga

**Author's Note:**

> This story has three different POV's, the POV changes every chapter. Check the chapter title if you're confused which POV it is.  
> 'Princess in the tower' is an alternate universe story with the characters of 'Coffee & Books', though you can read it without having read C&B. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Frigga is keeping a stern eye on her sons as they are packing their bags, the boys both grumbling as they walk between their closet and their bed, dumping clothes in their valises. “Can you at least  _ try _ to fold them?” she says to her eldest son, her voice sounding tired from dealing with both of their adolescent nonsense - and bickering - for the last hour.

 

“Not fair,” Thor complains from the opening to his bedroom, gesturing to his brother’s room on the other side of their shared sitting room. “Loki’s cheating!”

 

Frigga follows his pointed finger to the room behind her, where her youngest son is using his magic to put his clothes fairly neat in his bag. The raven haired teenager responds very maturely by scrunching up his nose and sticking out his tongue at his brother. A glare from his mother has him turning away quickly, to finish up his packing. 

 

The Allmother pinches the bridge of her nose to keep her calm. They’re packing for a visit to Alfheim, where they’ll will stay for a fortnight with their lifelong friends, the king and queen of the realm of Light Elves. Although Frigga makes sure to visit them every year, alone or accompanied by Odin, it’s been a long while since they visited as a family. The Asgardian princes used to love to go visit the Alfheim royals, whose kids are about the same age as them, although Queen Anarya and King Froder not only have two sons, but also a daughter. The girl used to play with the boys all the time, matching their rowdiness and racket easily. More often than not the five of them disappeared into the woods for the whole day, showing up for dinner covered in leafs and muck. And when they chose a more quiet pastime they stuck together too; backs resting against upturned legs while they read a book, or crowding together in a circle to play a game of cards.

However, all that child’s play has been forgotten now her sons have grown up, it seems. Thor and Loki were not exactly jumping for joy when she told them she wanted them to come with their parents for this year’s visit; although that may have more to do with a certain party they would be missing than the destination of their visit. A fond smile finds its home on Frigga’s lips as she watches the two young men. They have grown so much the last couple of years; their shoulders getting wider, their hands bigger, their voices lowering. Before her mind’s eyes she still sees the children they were not so long ago, with skinned knees and tousled hairs, crawling next to her up the sofa to tell her about their day.

 

***

 

Odin is quietly talking to Heimdall when Thor, Loki and their mother arrive to the golden dome at the end of the Rainbow Bridge. Loki helps his mother off her horse and hands the reigns to the squire that will bring the horses back to the stable. 

The brothers are still not exactly looking forward to their visit to Alfheim; two weeks at home without your parents, name one teenager who wouldn’t like that?! Although when your father is the Allfather, your mother the Allmother and your home is guarded by a knight in gold armour with all-seeing eyes, you might as well just go with them; it’s not like they won’t know what you’re doing all the time anyway. 

 

Pretty soon Heimdall has the Bifrost ready for them, wishing them a safe passage and a pleasant stay. “Give my best to the king and queen,” he adds with a little bow to the Allmother.

 

“Will do, my friend,” she answers warmly before she steps into the rainbow coloured Bifrost, followed by her sons and husband.


	2. Chapter 2 - Loki

The Alfheim king and queen are waiting for them on the other side, seemingly not having aged a bit since the last time Thor and Loki saw them. Queen Anarya is famous for her beauty and she ages with a grace that has no likeness in all of the realms. She kisses Loki on both cheeks, after having done the same to Thor. “You boys have grown so big! I hardly recognised you,” she says fondly, putting her hand on Loki’s cheek. “The kids will be so happy to see you again!"

Yet it’s certainly not a couple of kids that are waiting for them at the palace. Brann, the eldest, is easily as big as Thor, his long chestnut coloured hair hanging down his back in a thick braid, freeing his pointed ears. The boys only put their hands out at first, but familiarity wins and the handshake turns into a sturdy hug with pats on the back. Brann’s younger brother Ulf, twin to their sister, has a lighter build than his brother, though Loki can feel the strength in his arms when they reach around his shoulders to pat him firmly on the back. Like Brann, Ulf has braided his hair back, his has the reddish glow that the queen passed down to her two youngest children. 

“Good to see you guys, man,” Ulf says welcomingly. “It’s been too long!” 

Thor gives the Light Elf’s shoulder a friendly bump. “Yes, at least you are still easy to recognise, you haven’t grown an inch!”   
It’s not true of course, although Ulf was a lanky kid when they were young and he didn’t grow as much as his older brother, he just filled out more.    
“Where’s your sister?” Thor informs cheerily after evading a playful jab to his stomach from Ulf. 

Loki has already spotted the sister, currently being hugged and greeted by the Allmother. When Frigga lets go, Loki sucks in his breath. The princess is no longer the gangly girl from earlier; just like her brother she has filled out, in all the right ways. Her strawberry blond hair is alive in the afternoon light, catching the rays of sun that come in through the large windows of the palace. She’s wearing a sage green gown, fitting nicely without showing her curves off too much.  
Just when Loki is over his initial surprise and wants to go over, Thor stomps past him to stop short in front of the girl. He gives her a graceful bow, though his message and voice aren’t as formal. “Ylva, how good to see you again! I see you are still the better looking one of the three of you.”

Ylva smiles broadly and steps forward into Thor’s open arms for a short hug. “And you are still as charming as ever,” she says jokingly. 

Then she turns to Loki, who is still watching her with ill-hidden awe. He breaks his stare when he catches her eyes: big, blue and with a hint of insecurity. A soft, nervous chuckle escapes the princess before she steps a little closer, meaning to welcome Loki like she did with his brother.

However, Loki chooses to bow too, taking her hand lightly in his and pressing a featherlight kiss to her fingers. There are a million things he wants to say, but considering how their parents have moved closer to the reunion of their children, he settles for a more common nicety.   
“You are becoming as beautiful as your mother, lady Ylva,” he offers kindly, slowly letting go of her hand, maybe just a bit  _ too _ slow.

“And you talk as smooth as  _ your _ mother,” the princess counters wittily, as if her cheeks aren’t dusted with a soft pink as she gathers her hands back in front of her.

Loki can’t help but think that blush is because of him, which is flattering and strangely unsettling at the same time.

Queen Anarya leads them through the hallways to the large conservatory that looks over the gardens at the back of the palace. The Allmother has hooked her arm around Ylva’s, the two of them talking animatedly. The boys are trailing behind a bit, talking amongst each other to catch up on the basics.

“You still have magic training?” Ulf asks curiously. He was always fascinated by Loki’s tricks when they were younger and apparently that hasn’t gone away. 

Loki glances over the boy next to him. The twins used to look more alike when they were younger; now, the differences between the sexes seem to have enhanced their formerly subtle differences.

Loki humors his old friend by creating the illusion of a doppelganger, quickly making it disappear again when Ulf’s excited hoots attract the attention of both kings who are walking in front of them. Odin disapprovingly raises an eyebrow at both boys, who smirk at him innocently in return.

Afternoon tea evolves into dinner and it is not until late that evening that the Asgardian guests go to their rooms. Loki walks with his mother, a little behind the Allfather and Thor.

“Do you still think it is such a bad idea to visit our friends?” she asks teasingly, pressing his arm. 

Loki hums in denial. “It’s nice to see the guys again. Brann said he would take us to the training grounds tomorrow.”

“Just the guys?” Frigga asks pointily, ignoring the second part of his answer for the moment. 

“Well, I haven’t talked to Ylva that much yet,” Loki says, raising an eyebrow. 

The Allmother chuckles lightly. “Ah, yes, I’m afraid the queen and I kinda hogged her attention tonight.”

“She seems to be a proper lady now, not the girl who played catch with us in the forest,” Loki says thoughtfully, thinking about the stark contrast between his childhood friend and the young woman he saw today.

“You’ve  _ all _ grown up, or are you still planning on playing catch in the forest somewhere during this stay?” Frigga halts them both in front of her room, a handmaiden already waiting by the door for her. 

“Who knows?” Loki smirks before he kisses his mother’s cheek. “Good night, mother.” 

  
  


*** 

 

The Alfheim princes have thought up a whole contest, taking them from one corner of the training grounds to the next to test their skills. They start with some simple stick fighting, something they already used to do when they were kids.

“So…” Thor says teasingly, swooping the stick up in his hand, “you guys are still stuck on stick fighting, huh?”

“Nah,” counters Brann, taking up his own stick. “We just thought you wanted to start off with something easy.”

“Oh, you mean this is gonna get hard?” Thor takes an exaggerated fighting stance, wiggling his wooden stick at Brann. 

The Light Elf hits the stick hard and fast, nearly hitting it from Thor’s hand. Of course Thor is not gonna let that slide so easily and the boys really go at it, the clanks of the sticks clashing together loud across the yard. The eldest princes turn out to be pretty evenly matched and although Loki loses from Brann, he makes up for it by convincingly beating Ulf in under two minutes. 

Next part is target shooting, something Ulf can use to shake off the humiliation of getting beaten so fast. The Light Elf ran ahead and is already waiting for them with his bow in hand. Since the Asgardians hardly ever use bows, the Light Elfs can easily outdo them. Ulf is the best of them two, though Brann is also very skilled with the bow.  
Thor isn’t bothered by it in the least, he manages to hit the outer rings of the target and easily accepts his defeat. Yet Loki is frowning a little at the bow that Brann hands him with a smirk. “What’s the matter, Loki? Thinking about giving up already?”

“Yeah, Loki, think you can hit the bullseye?” The female voice has them all turning around, although the Light Elves look less surprised than the Asgardians. Ylva is leaning against the rack with the bows, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She’s not wearing a dress today, opting instead for a long tunic over a pair of tight breeches and boots that lace up to just below her knees. It looks good on her, not that Loki notices.

When she has their attention, she gets a bow from the rack and takes the arrow her brother hands her. The boys watch how she takes a stance, knocking the arrow on the bow with practiced ease. Loki is not surprised when her first arrow hits the yellow ring around the bullseye, a second arrow quickly following to correct her error. 

Her challenge for Loki rings clear across the training court. “Think you can beat that?” 

The raven haired prince is not gonna get bested by a girl whose braids he used to pull. She may be all grown up now, with just the right curves and big blue eyes that he can’t look into for too long, but that doesn’t matter when it comes to his pride. 

“Just hit the bullseye, right?” he asks casually as he walks over to where Ylva is standing. “Shoo!” he adds tauntingly before she steps out of his way, shaking her head with a cynical smile.   
He holds the bow up and knocks an arrow, giving his spectators a fake bored glance before moving his hands around to make the bow disappear, arrow and all. In its place he now holds two daggers, quickly throwing them to the target. The knives are too big to both fit in the center of the bullseye, though Loki’s excellent aim is clear by the way how both daggers are level next to each other, the bullseye smack dab in the middle.

“That’s cheating,” Ylva remarks dryly, seemingly not impressed by his trick. 

Her twin brother on the other hand is psyched about what Loki just did. “Where did you put that bow? It’s too big to be in your pocket!” Ulf jumps on Loki to pat him down, making the Asgardian prince break out in laughter. 

“Nice trick,” Brann says, “it’s still cheating though.” 

Thor offers the Light Elf a wide grin. “He hit the target, that was the goal, right? Next time you’ll have to specify exactly with  _ what  _ he has to hit the target.”

They continue their track around the training grounds, keeping their talk light although the urge to outdo each other starts to surface more and more. The princes of both houses refuse to get bested by their childhood friends, not easily willing to admit they’re evenly matched at most things. The princess goes with them for a good part, egging them on with snarky comments until a squire comes to take her away for her lessons. They only see each other again at dinner, both royal families gathered around the long table. 

“And? Who won the dick measuring contest?” Ylva inquires with faked innocence during the main course, her father immediately reprimanding her for her un-ladylike choice of words.   
“I’m sorry, father,” she says, her apology barely sounding sincere. “Though I’d still like to know who won.”

It’s Brann and Thor who can’t hide their mirth anymore the first, the boys buckling over the table, roaring with laughter. Thor even knocks over his glass, the maroon liquid spreading quickly over the white tablecloth. 

“Oh my lord,” Brann hiccups. “There are… so many… jokes… I can make about that question.”

Ulf connects the dots to the innuendo now too and he also breaks into a fit of laughter, giving his sister a shove. “Wouldn’t you like to know!”

Loki is the best at keeping a poker face, although that gets a whole lot harder when Ylva quickly glances at him before she smacks her twin brother over the back of his head. She threatens to do the same to her older brother at the other side of the table, though her threat falls through because of the crimson colour of her cheeks.

Of course their behaviour gets them send to their rooms, after a heated lecture about good manners from King Froder. If it were Odin, he would’ve had their asses, yet the Allfather was visibly holding back, probably a benefit from him being a guest in another one’s house.

 

Loki has settled on his bed with a book, when there’s a sound at his balcony. When he doesn’t pay attention to it, a second sound follows, this time from something hitting his window.   
Underneath the balcony are three figures waiting for him in the dark. “Brother, come down!” Thor calls out quietly. 

Loki glances back to his book shortly before closing the balcony door behind him and swinging his legs over the edge of his balcony. 

“Is he gonna jump?” he hears Brann ask in the dark below him before a green shimmer envelopes his body and he teleports down to the palace garden.

“Show off,” Thor mutters when Loki shows up next to him, smiling cockily. 

“Can you teleport us all to town?” Ulf asks excitedly, immediately pouting when Loki shoots that idea down with a short shake of his head.

“Come on,” Brann says impatiently and starts off in the direction of the stables. “I’ve got a pint of ale waiting for me at the inn.”

 

***

 

Loki regrets their nightly trip to the town inn the next morning, waking up with a pounding headache. At the breakfast table he sees the other boys are not faring any better. Although Ylva keeps snickering at their battered state in secret, she doesn’t say anything about it; she is talking to the Allfather instead, answering his questions about her education. The raven haired prince knows better than to listen in; her brothers and his own sibling had pestered him enough last night about him having an interest in the princess. 

He has not.

He just happens to look at her sometimes. So what?

All right… looking may be more like staring. And ‘sometimes’ comes around quite a lot.

Again, so what? It’s only because his brain has trouble coming to terms with the fact that his childhood friend is all grown up now, her feisty spirit wrapped up all nicely in curves that he would love to trail with his fin… 

Wait.

He’s not interested. All right? Not. At. All.


	3. Chapter 3 - Ylva

When her lesson of that day is finally done, Ylva hurries back to her room. She throws her books on her desk and opens the balcony doors, stepping through to breathe in the fresh air. She has been holed up in a room for the better part of the day again, though luckily she had convinced her parents to let her take a break for the remainder of the stay of the Asgardian royal family. She can’t help but being jealous of her brothers, who get to hang out with their friends the whole time. Stupid lady lessons! Like she will ever need to know about Jotun hospitality customs from centuries ago, it’s not like a state visit to that barren realm is likely to happen anyway.

“Hey sis,” a voice calls out from the balcony next to her.

Ylva turns her head and sees Ulf leaning over his balcony railing like she’s doing. She’s quick to walk over and step onto the side of the wide railing, lifting her skirt to step from one balcony to the other, like she has done so many times before already.  
The girl takes the position next to her brother, their shoulders lightly touching as they look out over the gardens. From here they can just see the greenhouse, where they spot their mother and Lady Frigga, hunched over one of the plants. If she really was a proper girl, she would join them. Instead, she turns her head to her brother.   
“Any plans for this afternoon?”

He smirks. “Why? Aching to spend some time with your beau?”

Ylva shoves his elbow from the edge of the balcony. “Will you cut it out already?!”

“Oh, come on, sis! You like him! All dark and mysterious…” Ulf’s voice trails off with a snicker.

“I do not!” The indignant claim only makes her brother laugh some more.

He slings an arm around her shoulder. “We all know you do, sis, there’s no use in denying it. You already liked him back when he used to pull your hair.”

Ylva leans her head back against his arm in desperation. “You  _ all _ know?”

Her brother gives her a fond squeeze. “Well, maybe not  _ all  _ of us. I’m pretty sure Loki himself is still oblivious to it, especially with the way you two keep bickering and trying to outdo each other.”

“Loki? You think I like Loki?” Ylva tries to joke herself out of it, knowing full well her brother’s not buying it, even though he laughs with her and they drop the subject. 

 

***

 

As it turns out, there  _ are _ plans for that afternoon; Ulf takes Ylva to the stables, where the other three boys are already saddling up their horses. Thor is putting the bridle on a soft grey gelding, one of the horses Ylva usually rides on. The horse pushes his nose against her shoulder as soon as she comes near, making Thor generously offer her the horse to ride on. 

“No, it’s okay. You can take Silver,” Ylva says, patting the horse on the neck. “I’ll take Holly, she loves a stroll in the woods.”

The fox brown mare stands in the stable next to Dorian, the black gelding that is Loki’s ride for today. He is just about done with the horse when he sees her coming.  “You’re joining us for a ride?” he asks casually, fastening the horse’s reins to the stable.

“I am,” Ylva says, pulling the sliding door to Holly’s stable open. “Is that okay?”   
She doesn’t know why she says that, much less does she know why her voice always has an edge when she talks to Loki, making everything sound like a challenge.

It’s no different this time, judging by the way Loki narrows his eyes for a second before he shrugs. “Sure, if you can keep up.”

Still, he remains a gentleman and goes to fetch Holly’s gear while she gives the horse a quick brush. Not long after all five of them are ready to go, their horses forming a long line on the narrow path that leads them to the forest.  
They go through a small patch of forest first, a well worn path winding through the trees. The Light Elves know this part like the back of their hand, Brann and Ulff spurring on their horses for a mad dash underneath the trees. Of course, the Asgardian princes will not let that go by unchallenged; Thor and Loki go in pursuit, Loki pushing his horse past Ylva with a call for her to follow them  _ if she can _ . She does, although she takes a shortcut and comes out in the clearing before them, grinning triumphantly.

It becomes a race across the clearing, Brann leading them on his fast stallion through another small patch of forest and into the open fields. The princess is the first to let the reins go, letting her horse slow down to a comfortable trot.   
“They make everything a pissing contest,” she says with a sigh, patting the horse on the neck.  
She watches the boys catch up with each other at the edge of the field, pushing their horses together to try and shove each other off. 

It takes a while before the boys give up their antics and they all go into the forest again, to a small clearing next to a pond. There’s a slab of rock that hangs over the water, giving the whole place the vibe of a fairy tale; you’d expect a deer to dart away when you break into the clearing, or a bird to start singing. There’s no deer and no bird, though there are some small critters that dart away when the five teenagers reach the clearing with their horses. 

Ulf stuffed his saddle bags with goodies he gathered in the palace kitchen, which makes for a perfect late - or second - lunch. They share the food sitting on two tree trunks that have been pushed to the edge of the pond. The clearing is a favourite spot for picnics, Ylva and her brothers come here often.   
Thanks - or no thanks - to her brothers, Ylva finds herself close to Loki; she sits on the trunk perpendicular to where Loki sits on the grass, his back against the other trunk. She can’t stretch her legs without kicking him and he has already bumped his elbow into her knees - for which he apologized.   
She tries not to stare at him, which is a bit hard when Loki is sitting this close to her. His hair is longer than she remembers, curling up slightly over the collar of his jacket. Her hands itch to touch it, wanting to find out if it’s as soft as it looks. It’s a good thing Loki doesn’t look her way, engaged in conversation with Brann; now Ylva can study his profile while pretending to listen to the boys talk about hunting deer. Ulf was right, she had always liked Loki; she enjoys his tricks and his smooth talks, because she also knows how his eyes light up when something fascinates him, or how he can get lost in a book for hours. And one of her fondest memories is of when they were lying on their stomachs in the shadow of a tree, watching a rainbow coloured beetle climb to the top of a blade of grass over and over again.   
That was before puberty kicked in, before Loki suddenly developed a set of muscles that had not been there yet the last time she saw him, before his voice found that nice timbre that does funny things to her lower stomach. 

Ylva blinks, feeling caught when she realises she had completely zoned out. Luckily nobody seems to have noticed yet - nobody but her twin brother, who smirks at her knowingly - and it only takes her a moment to participate in the ongoing conversation again. Ylva’s resolution is to push down every dreamy thought about Loki from that moment on, a plan that is apparently doomed to fail from the start. Their fingers brush when he hands her the canteen that is getting passed around, leaving Ylva with a blush she desperately tries to hide and a twin brother who can hardly grin any wider.

Still, it’s nice, sitting here together; it reminds her of when they were younger. She remembers one of the first times they took the Asgardian brothers to this clearing, having discovered it themselves not that long before. During the summer they used to play a game on top of the slab of rock, trying to push each other in the water. Just simply jumping off and try to make the biggest splash also worked wonderfully on hot days.


	4. Chapter 4 - Loki

It has not gone unnoticed by Loki that Ylva was kind of forced to come sit next to him, her brother Ulf in particular seems to be bend on having them sit close to each other. The raven-haired prince shrugs it off as some kind of inside joke, the twins never needed much to understand each other, he doubts that has changed over the years.

It’s nice to be here again, in the clearing where they used to hang out often when they were younger. There were so many games they played, from simple things like hide and seek to tag, or more complicated games, some of them made up by the kids themselves. The others seem to think the same things, because Brann suggests playing a game when they have finished eating.

“What game?” Thor asks, starting to pat his pockets. “I didn’t bring a pack of cards or anything. You, Loki?”

“I could check.” Loki tries to remember if he has some playing cards on him. He sometimes forgets what he is carrying, especially if it’s small items. A couple of days ago they were already on their way back to the castle when he remembered he still had a bow and arrow magically tucked away in his pockets. 

“No, no,” Brann interjects, getting up from the tree trunk he was sitting on. “I want to move!”

“What? You want to play tag?” Loki asks teasingly, thinking back to his conversation with his mother on their first day here.

Brann rubs his chin, his skin smooth and perfect like most Light Elves. “I was thinking more along the lines of ‘conquer the flag’, or something.”

“We’re not using my shirt as a flag again,” Ulf whines jokingly. “I’ve lost too many good shirts that way.”

“What about ‘princess in the tower’?” Thor asks, immediately getting slapped on his shoulder by an overly enthusiastic Ulf. 

He gets everyone hyped up and pretty soon they’re setting down bases for the players. The ‘princess’ has to sit on top of the slab of rock, with her ‘knight’ guarding her. The other three players try to steal her away and bring her back to their own base. They’re out when the knight taps them, but they also have to be careful of the competition. 

“I’m not playing the princess!” Ylva says resolutely, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

“That’s fine,” Thor grins, curtsying like he is picking up his invisible dress with his fingers. “You can be my brave knight.”

The blond Asgardian perches on top of the rock, his legs folded daintily underneath him. Ylva takes a stanch at the base of the rock, the most efficient spot to cut off the other players as they start to close in on the makeshift tower to kidnap the princess.   
Brann is the first to make a move, narrowly escaping being tagged by his sister. Ylva is light on her feet and she effectively holds them off for a couple of minutes, even when they’re coming at her all three at the same time. Loki and Brann have an opening when Ulf is being tagged, almost taking her with him when he tumbles to the ground in a theatrical fashion.   
The boys both make a run for the pretty princess, who babbles nonsense about handsome knights who come to take her away in a high pitched voice. Brann starts to laugh, not that used to Thor’s ridiculousness and Loki gives him a shove to get him off course. It works for a second, though Brann takes revenges by pushing Loki nearly off the slab of rock. Loki has to teleport in a split second to avoid hitting the water. He appears again by the tree trunks where they sat earlier, one sleeve of his jacket drenched up to his elbow. There’s green duckweed all over his sleeve.  
Loki takes his jacket off, watching how Brann drags Thor after him, trying to reach his base before Ylva can overtake them. The boys fail miserably, mainly because Thor insists on doing some sort of ridiculous skip-hop version of running. It makes Ulf almost wet his breeches and Ylva’s clear laugh can be heard above the deeper laughs of the boys. 

The tone is set for the next round, where Thor simply slings princess Ulf over one shoulder to make a run for it. In the round that Loki is princess, he confuses everybody by making his princess an illusion. He nearly topples from his seat in a nearby tree when Ylva and Ulf collide with each other, their arms going straight through the illusion. When Loki teleports to the stone to collect a startled princess Brann, his use of magic is forbidden for the rest of the game.

It’s a pretty simple game, depending a lot on the input of the players, yet it has them going all out as if they were kids again. Pretty soon Loki isn’t the only one who has forsaken his jacket and Ylva is even running around barefoot. 

“Okay, last round,” Brann announces, leaning with his hands on his knees to catch his breath after being chased by his sister. “Ylva, you’re the princess. And Loki, it’s your turn to be the knight.”

The fun of the game has taken away the weird tension that Loki often feels between them, so he can promise Ylva to be a valiant knight without getting funny looks or snarky remarks. The girl flops down on the stone and crosses her legs, putting her bare feet up on her knees.

“Hey! Don’t tie yourself in a knot!” her twin brother calls out. “You have to be able to run when I come get you!” 

“Ha!” Ylva makes a face at her brother. “As if you’ll ever get past Loki!”

All three of the boys holler in disagreement at that statement and Brann counts down to start the last round. Instead of waiting for his opponents to come at him, Loki takes a more active approach. He even drives them back behind the treeline, taunting them to come out from his spot a few yards away. Ulf takes the bait, slowly coming forward to try and run around Loki as soon as he sees his chance. However, Loki has his eyes on Brann and Thor, who most likely will use Ulf as a diversion.   
And he’s right: as soon as Ulf comes close to Loki, Brann and Thor make a wide circle. Loki has the best chance at catching Thor, so he makes a run for it, crashing through the undergrowth. His tag is a full body check, sending them both into the high grass. Thor easily rolls with him, not minding the hard tackle very much. Loki feels a sharp pain at the base of his left thumb when he puts his hands down to push himself up, though he pays it no mind. He still has Ulf and Brann to tag, he can still win if he gets them before they reach their base with Ylva.

He gets up so quickly his blood can’t keep up, causing a headrush. Yet Loki pushes through and runs towards where Brann and Ulf are pulling and pushing to prevent the other from reaching their sister first. He blinks the stars from his eyes and dashes to the boys, making them separate. Ulf is the easiest prey and Loki chases after him, almost falling over his own feet when a flash of dizziness tries to overpower him. He does catch Ulf, by making a dive for his ankles.

Of course Brann has reached Ylva by that time, looking over his shoulder to see Loki still down in the grass. He hates to admit it, but Loki needs a second to recover. His head feels funny, a bit hazy; though his mind is still sharp enough to see he still has a good chance of winning. Brann has only just pulled Ylva to her feet, meaning they still have to make it back to his base, the spot marked with his jacket. 

“Come on, valiant knight!” Ulf chuckles from his place in the grass behind Loki. “Your princess is being kidnapped!”

_ Ah, that’s right, she’s his princess and he promised to be her valiant knight. _

Loki rubs his left hand that is still throbbing as he watches Brann and Ylva on the rock over the pond. He is between them and Brann’s home base, meaning he is in the perfect position to thwart the kidnapping of the princess.

_ My princess. _

_ His princess is being kidnapped. He has to save her. _

He squints his eyes a few times, trying to get the weird haze out of his head. Overthere is Ylva, her kidnapper pulling her with him by her hand. Loki blinks again, there’s something wrong here, he can’t see their features right. Another blink and then he sees it. Ylva is positively glowing, like a beacon in the dark. She’s his goal.   
Yet someone is taking her away from him. A large figure with pale skin and dark, hollow eyes, who only laughs when Ylva says he’s squeezing her hand too hard. The nasty thug is not walking fast, he’s keeping a sharp eye on Loki, trying to figure out how to get past the knight. He should be wary, because the knight is getting to his feet again.

_ Loki is a valiant knight and someone tries to take his princess. He can’t let that happen. _

The dark figure - a Dark Elf possibly? What is such a foul creature doing here? - pulls Ylva a little closer and says something to her, his eyes darting back and forth to keep Loki in his line of vision. The girl seems to disagree, shaking her head and trying to pull her hand out of his.  
Loki doesn’t like the sight of that, his jaw locks and he breathes a little heavier through his nose; his steps in the direction of the two in front of him become more determined.

Ylva shrieks in anger as the Dark Elf hoists her up over his shoulder, his arm clamped down over the back of her legs. Her scream goes straight to Loki’s gut, his shoulders tensing and his fists clenching in reaction.

The Dark Elf holds a firm grasp on the squirming princess, who is hammering her fists on his lower back, yelling at him to put her down. The large Elf only laughs, his smirk directed at Loki. “Your princess doesn’t like being taken away from her knight,” he taunts, before pitching his voice higher to mock Ylva’s cries. “Help! Come save me, oh brave knight!” 

_ Save the princess _ .  _ My princess _ .

Loki tackles the Dark Elf by the knees, sending them all to the floor in one heap of flailing limbs.


	5. Chapter 5 - Ylva

There’s no time to scream when they suddenly go horizontal, crashing hard on the grass. Yet there is plenty of time to yell when Ylva rolls away from the boys, ending up flat on her stomach. She spews all kinds of curse words, directed at both her kidnapper  _ and _ her so-called savior. 

Brann is laughing so hard he can’t speak; all he does is shake and wheeze, his back on the grass. Loki on the other hand is scrambling to his feet, shooting Brann a dirty look as he jogs over to Ylva.

“What did you do that for!? You -”

Her rant is caught in her throat when Loki suddenly scoops her up in his arms. He walks quickly, gently setting her down on the rock over the pond.   
“You’re safe now, princess. I’ve got you.” 

Something in his voice makes her swallow her words. He sounds too serious, too involved.  
She searches Loki’s face for a hint of mischief. She doesn’t know what kind of trick he’s pulling, but this is one she doesn’t particularly enjoy, if not only for her bruised hip!  
Ylva groans softly as she feels around her hip and thigh; she’s gonna be black and blue by tomorrow, that’s for sure!

“Were you hurt, my lady? I’m so sorry!” The words are rushed and jumbled together, though they are clear enough.

“What?” Loki’s worried gaze catches her off guard. This truly is some elaborate trick!

Ylva is too perplexed to react when Loki steps closer and puts one hand on her shoulder as he inspects her side and grazes his free hand over her bruised hip. He mumbles something about being sorry, before his gaze suddenly snaps up and she is caught in his green eyes. His hand moves from her hip to her cheek, his thumb stroking gently across the heated skin there; Ylva is transfixed by his stare, completely overwhelmed by his unexpectedly sweet behaviour.

“Damn, Loki!” calls Brann from behind them. “You really wanted to win this time, didn’t you?”  
He groans a little as he gets to his feet, though he’s clearly not mad; the Light Elf can appreciate a good brawl.

Her brother’s voice breaks Ylva’s trance and she quickly steps back from Loki and his worried gaze. Her face feels like it’s on fire and if Ulf’s smirk is anything to go by, her bewilderment is clearly visible for everybody.

Loki slowly turns back to face Brann, his posture getting tensed. He reaches back with one hand, lightly touching Ylva’s arm as if to make sure she’s still there. To make sure she  _ stays _ there. He certainly is acting weird; she can’t see his face, but she can see her brother and he approaches Loki warily, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Stop right there, you foul monster!” Loki calls out, his voice laced with anger. “You will not touch her again!”

Brann snorts, confusement and amusement clear in his expression. “What in Odin’s name is your problem, Loki?” 

He takes another step in their direction and that is apparently a mistake. A big one. Because Loki jumps him without warning and before Ylva knows what’s happening the raven-haired prince has Brann pinned down with a knife at his throat.

Everybody is screaming and running towards the two princes in the grass at the same time. Thor is the one who hauls Loki away, his younger brother kicking and growling - not screaming, no, he is actually growling!

“He’s gone feral!” Ulf says astonished, picking up the knife Loki dropped when Thor grabbed him. 

“Something’s wrong,” Ylva nods, keeping a sharp eye on Loki, who tries to break free from his brother’s iron grip. Thor is talking to him in a low voice, trying to calm him down.

Brann grumbles, coming to stand next to his siblings. “Has he hit his head? Boy’s gone crazy!” 

“Get away from her!” Loki yells, fixing his attention back on Brann all of a sudden. “If you hurt her…” He doesn’t have to finish his sentence for them to know what he wants to do to Brann in that case. And when Brann reacts angrily - making it clear he thinks Loki has gone mental - Loki only starts thrashing around worse to get to the Light Elf.

“For Odin’s sake, cut it out!” Thor yells, clearly having trouble to restrain his furious brother. “Get back, you all!”

The Light Elves move back, though that is not to Loki’s liking either. “Princess!” he pleads, it’s almost a whimper. 

His eyes catch Ylva again and his desperation is clear. She might not know what’s going on, however, it is clear Loki wants her away from Brann. He wants her to…  _ Oh, for the love of the skies! _

“Ylva! What do you think you’re doing!” Brann calls out when she starts to walk towards Loki and Thor. Ulf tries to grab her arm to stop her, yet she ignores both of her brothers. 

Loki follows her every step, growing more still now she comes closer. The relief she sees in his eyes, Thor can apparently feel in his body, because the Asgardian can stand up a little straighter now, not having to restrain his younger brother as badly.

Ylva swallows under Loki’s heavy gaze; he stares at her like she is the only one there, like… like she is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.   
“Loki? What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?”

His eyes leave her for a second, his gaze immediately changing into something menacing when he looks at Brann, yet when he looks back at her that soft look is there again. His voice is soft too, almost fragile. “You’re my princess, I have to protect you.”

Thor shows her a light shrug, to say he doesn’t know what is the matter either. He keeps his brother locked within his arms, though Loki doesn’t fight his grip anymore; the Asgardian prince is merely looking at Ylva with a bad case of puppy eyes.  
Those eyes… something is wrong with his eyes. Loki has green eyes, Ylva knows that well enough; yet his pupils are so blown there is only a small sliver of green visible around all that black.

“It was only a game, Loki,” she says, looking him over for other signs that can tell her what’s wrong with him. 

Loki shakes his head. “You’re my princess,” he insists stubbornly. “That monster wanted to kidnap you.” 

“That monster is her brother, you idiot,” Thor deadpans, his reaction immediately getting him a snarl from Loki.

Ylva tries another time to tell Loki it was only a game, yet he keeps insisting she’s his princess and that he has to protect her. At one point he even calls Brann a Dark Elf, with enough malice to convince her he really means it. Now he has calmed down they can hear how he slurs his words a little, like he’s drunk.  
“I think he’s hallucinating or something,” she says, more to Thor than to Loki. 

“Whatever it is, he’s not in his right mind, that’s for sure,” Thor replies, looking down at his brother worriedly. 

Ylva tries to remember what happened before Loki started acting so strange. She can’t recall him hitting his head when he went after the other boys. Sure, they tumbled to the floor a couple of times, but that also happened during other rounds and then he was fine.   
“He’s not hurt, right?” she says, talking again like Loki isn’t here. To be fair, ignoring him a little makes it easier to deal with this, because the looks he gives her are a little too intense. Like, straight into your soul intense.

“I don’t think so,” Thor answers, loosening his grip on Loki a little to look him over.

“Can I?” Ylva asks, carefully stretching her hands out to Loki’s face. He only nods and lets her turn his face from side to side and feel in his hair for any wounds or other signs that something is wrong with his head. He is like wax in her hands, seemingly enjoying her touch; he even closes his eyes at some point. Ylva stores that thought away for later, right now it’s more important to find out why Loki is acting this weird.

She can’t find anything, until she notices a smear of blood on his left hand. After cleaning the blood away with some spit - because  _ what the hell _ at this point - she discovers the two small puncture holes at the base of his thumb.   
Ylva holds his hand up so Thor can see it too. “I think he was bitten!” 

After consulting with Thor and Ulf - who can only come closer after Ylva has ensured Loki at least three times that her twin brother is  _ not _ the enemy - they decide it’s too late to try and suck the poison out. Whatever it was, it’s clearly already spread throughout his system.    
It’s a snake bite, Ulf suspects it was a red viper; a small snake, native to these woods, with a powerful poison that indeed makes you hallucinate. Well, it’s working perfectly on Loki.

“Brother, if I let you go, will you behave?” Thor asks carefully, trying to look his brother in the face while still keeping his arms firm around him. 

“I will protect the princess.” 

It’s not really the answer they are looking for, yet Thor slowly loosens his grip on Loki anyway. They have instructed Brann to stay as far away as possible; the Light Elf has no problem with that, every time he so much as looks at Loki he gets a snarl in response. 

Though it’s not Brann who he’s after when Loki is finally released from the prison of Thor’s grip. He goes for his own embrace, pulling Ylva flush against him. 

“Whoah…” Ylva breathes in surprise, not in the least prepared for this to happen. Her hands are folded in between their bodies, giving her no wiggle room whatsoever. Loki is not letting her go; if anything, he only moves her a little to the side of his body, so he can glare angrily at anyone who dares to look at his princess.

And he really is intent on keeping her as close to him as possible, although he settles for holding her hand while they gather their things and walk back to the horses.   
“You’re riding with me,” he states stubbornly when Ylva wants to tie Holly loose. 

“What?” She turns to him in surprise. “I have my own horse, Loki. I can ride her, it’ll be fine.” They have already discovered Loki is far more compliant as long as Ylva is close, so they just roll with it to get him back to the palace as fast as possible. Hopefully someone there will know what to do. However, this is all embarrassing enough already for Ylva - and Loki, although he doesn’t realise that now -, so she is  _ not  _ planning on getting on a horse with him!

“You ride with me.” It’s a simple statement. And although she protests, Loki doesn’t listen and stares her down until she lets him give her a hand to climb on his horse. 

Ulf generously offers to take Holly, the teenager now living in a constant state of the giggles because of all the amounts of blackmail and jokes he is gathering from this situation.   
Ylva’s brain is in overdrive, trying to think of a way to live through this without dying from embarrassment, when Loki mounts the gelding too and snakes his arm around her waist to pull her flush against him. It makes sense, since they have to ride together, though that doesn’t mean that Ylva is prepared to  _ feel  _ him against her  _ whole _ backside. A slight whimper escapes her lips and Loki’s whispered consoling words only make it worse; because he whispers them straight into her ear, his lips against her hair.

Riding when you’re holding yourself as stiff as a board is the complete opposite of comfortable, yet Ylva can impossibly relax when there’s Loki’s firm chest behind her - she is actively ignoring the warmth that is anything lower than his chest,  _ thankyouverymuch _ \- and the constant teasing of Ulf and Thor around her. It takes a while before they finally take pity on her and spur their horses on to go ride with Brann in the front. Loki has been calm enough to trust he’ll go back to the palace without a problem, so they have no qualms with leaving Ylva and Loki alone. 

“Now that they’re gone, will you finally relax?” It’s a reasonable question, one that makes Ylva’s breath hitch in an unreasonable fashion. Because it shows Loki is way too aware of her internal struggle, even when he is still high as a kite on snake poison.  
“You’re safe, princess. We’ll deal with that Dark Elf when we’re back at the palace. I’m sure your father will want to know what a creature like him is doing here.”

His remark involuntarily makes her laugh, releasing some of the tension in her muscles. Despite it being extremely awkward, their situation is also pretty funny. She is already looking forward to the moment Loki will realise how ridiculous he behaved. Or… Well, maybe it’s better he has no memory of what happened, because the way he is holding her against him is awfully intimate. 

“I love hearing you laugh,” Loki says casually, like it’s a sentiment he shares with her every day. His hand shifts a little on her stomach, in the same casual manner. 

Ylva gives up. Trying not to lean into Loki while riding a horse is really tiring and it is impossible to maintain a decent distance when he is acting like this. She might as well give in and enjoy this while it lasts. Their brothers are far enough ahead to give them a little privacy, nobody will notice. And with a little luck Loki’s mind is messed up enough to not remember exactly what happened, meaning she can simply act like nothing happened afterwards.

_ Yeah, right _ . As if she will ever forget how it feels to finally lean into his embrace, his cheek resting comfortably - with the sense of years of intimacy- against the side of her head. Or how will she forget the soft content hum she can hear ever so softly, accompanied by a slight nudge of his nose in her hair.


	6. Chapter 6 - Frigga

When the kids suddenly show up - still on horseback - by the conservatory, both Lady Frigga and Lady Anarya immediately leave their embroidery work and hurry towards them. It’s clear from all the young faces that something is wrong.  
Lady Anarya runs up to the black gelding that carries her daughter and Frigga’s youngest son. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“No mom, I’m fine,” is the consoling response, although it doesn’t clear up yet why the two teenagers were riding together.

“Did Holly go limp?” The Alfheim queen turns to inspect the brown mare that is tied to Ulf’s horse.

Frigga didn’t see anything abnormal when they came riding up, and indeed, the kids confirm nothing is wrong with the animal.  
It only becomes more of a riddle when Loki harshly demands that Brann will be taken away by the guards immediately, before even coming down from his horse. The animal nervously moves in place, eager to get rid of his two riders.

“Just roll with it,” Brann says to the two flabbergasted mothers with a deep sigh, as he gestures for two nearby guards to follow him inside the palace.

While lady Anarya stares after her son who strolls away with the two guards in tow, Frigga turns her attention to her youngest son. Now his unusual demand is being followed - in some way at least - he finally dismounts, holding his hands out to help Ylva down.

“Loki? What is going on?”

The raven-haired prince turns to his mother, a polite smile on his lips. “I can understand you’re a little spooked, mother. Believe me when I say we didn’t expect to come across a Dark Elf in the woods either!”

There’s a strange lilt to his words and what he is saying absolutely makes no sense at all. Yet before Frigga can say anything, she catches sight of Ylva who is signalling for her to stay quiet. So the queen settles for a non-committing “I see…”.

The girl next to Loki takes initiative now, tugging on Loki’s sleeve. “Come with me, Loki, you promised me you would go to the infirmary to get yourself checked out.”

“Infirmary? Loki, are you hurt?”

Another smile from Loki, again one that doesn’t match the strange gleam in his eyes. “Don’t worry, mother, Ylva is already worrying enough for the two of you. It was just a little skirmish with the Dark Elf, I’m sure everything is alright.” He directs his smile at the girl now and takes her hand. “My princess insists I will go see a doctor, just to be sure.”

Frigga would like nothing more than to give Loki a good shake and make him talk some sense, though from the way everybody is behaving she understands she will have to wait for answers. Alright, she will give them that, she can wait _a little_ longer. And then somebody will have to tell her _everything_.

 

***

 

As it turns out, Frigga doesn’t have to wait long to hear at least some of the story. Thor whispers it to her on their way to the infirmary, following Loki and Ylva who walk in front of them. _Hand in hand_ , with Loki fondly gazing down on Ylva the whole time.

“Loki is tripping from a snake bite?” Frigga repeats Thor’s words incredulously.

“Yeah, and the only thing to keep him calm is to play along and do what he wants.”

“And what _does_ he want?” Frigga asks, although she already has an inkling of what it is.

“Defeat the bad guy and protect the princess, just like in the game we were playing when he got bitten,” Thor says with a nod to the young couple in front of them. Then he smirks widely. “Although he has some interesting ideas about what protecting is.”

“Don’t tease them,” Frigga warns her son, even though she can’t help but smile herself. The way Loki watched Ylva was not new to her, really, the only difference was he now did it openly.

 

***

 

In the infirmary the prince goes in a fit of rage when it’s suggested he is imagining things, showing his mother the other kids weren’t wrong for playing along with his poison induced fantasy.  
Thor wrangles the knife from his hand - muttering something about the unknown amount of knives Loki probably has concealed on his body -, after which Ylva steps in to calm Loki down. She shows some serious courage, stepping in range while he is about to leap at a doctor and unceremoniously wrapping her arms around his waist. The effect is heartwarming; Loki freezes mid-move and slowly lowers his arms to hug Ylva back. He might still be glaring at the doctors, yet he calms down enough to listen to what they have to say.  
Ylva is the only one who can convince Loki to work with the doctors, not even Frigga can talk him into letting the doctors draw some blood. He keeps saying there is nothing wrong with him, until the princess plays the ‘do it for me’ card.  
Frigga admires how Ylva handles the whole situation. Seeing as she and Loki are not really a couple - _yet_ , the Allmother can’t help but think - she has taken the role of loving partner upon herself quite easily. It works wonders, Loki is compliant enough for the doctors to run some tests and make sure he has no other ailments than the effects of the snakebite.

His blood tests positive for snake poison, which luckily can be treated with some medication. Loki gets angry again when he hears them talk about the snake, until Thor makes up that the Dark Elf probably poisoned him. The doctors explain how they want to keep him overnight, to administer fluids through an I.V. and to keep an eye on him because of the side-effects of the medication. Loki has gotten a fever by now and he is looking more ill than before; he starts to feel it too and it doesn’t take much to convince him to get in bed.

Everybody has left, except for Ylva and Frigga. The princess is sitting on the edge of Loki’s bed in the infirmary, with his hand in her lap. He refused to let her go, the princess leaving his side was completely out of the question when it came to Loki and his poison-meddled mind.  
It was the first time Frigga saw Ylva almost break under the pressure and she stepped in to convince Loki to let the girl at least get a change of clothes. The whole time she was away Loki was restless, his fever spiking; yet when ‘his princess’ returned his temperature gradually came down and now he has even fallen asleep.  
Queen Anarya has come in a little while ago too, to check up on her daughter and to see how Loki is doing. Ylva perks up when she sees her mother, visibly enjoying a motherly hug.

“I really admire you for what you have done for my son today,” Frigga tells the princess after Ylva has explained to the women what went down that afternoon in the forest. “What you’re still doing,” she adds fondly, nudging her chin at the intertwined hands of the two kids.

“He’s my friend,” Ylva answers quietly. “He’s sick, he needs me.”

“And you need sleep,” lady Anarya says to her daughter, gently tucking a lock of hair behind the girl’s ear. “It’s late and you had a rough day. Come, let’s get you to bed.”

Frigga smiles when she sees how the young girl hesitates, looking from the sleeping Loki to his hand in her lap. When she untangles their fingers a slight frown appears on Loki’s face and his hand twitches when she puts it down on the comforter. The Allmother isn’t surprised at all when the girl slides her hand back over Loki’s fingers.  
“I’ll stay here…”

“The doctors can keep an eye on him, dear,” the Alfheim queen says, but Ylva stays put, no matter what her mother says.

Frigga puts her hand on her friend’s arm. “If it puts Ylva’s mind at ease to be here in case Loki wakes up, I think we should let her,” she suggests gently.

“Let her sleep here? What will the people think?” The queen turns to Ylva, clearly torn between what is proper and what is right. “What will your father think?”

“I don’t care,” Ylva mutters.

“They will think she is taking good care of her friend,” Frigga says soothingly. “She did a marvellous job earlier and I am grateful she wants to see him through the night.”

Queen Anarya frowns. “Of course you do, he’s your _son_. He’s not the one whose honour is on the line.”

“Mother! What on this realm do you think I’ll be doing here?!” The teenager has jumped from the bed and is staring her mother down, her fists balled at her sides. “Do you really think so low of me?”

“Of course not,” the queen answers quickly. “However, it’s not about what _I_ think…”

“Everybody else can get stuffed!” Ylva’s voice is between a shout and a whisper, probably because she doesn’t want to wake up Loki.

The queen cocks an eyebrow, staring down at her teenage daughter. “Even your father?”

“If he thinks I lose my honour because I’m taking care of my sick friend, then yes!”

Frigga can’t help but chuckle a little, though she hides it as well as she can. It takes some convincing, but eventually the queen agrees to let her daughter spend the night in the infirmary. They leave Ylva sitting on the bed, a second blanket ready to keep her warm. Frigga has no doubt the girl will lay down as soon as they have left the room, if not because she wants to, then because she is simply too tired to stay awake.

The Allmother hooks her arm around her friend’s, walking away from the infirmary. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a glass of wine after all this.”

The Alfheim queen sighs. “Yes, that sounds like a good plan.”

Frigga laughs and gives her long time friend a squeeze. “Those kids sure are cute together, don’t you think?”


	7. Chapter 7 - Loki

Warm fingers wrap around his wrist, lifting his arm a little. The fingers press against the inside of his wrist, finding his pulse. Loki blinks against the haze of sleep. The room is dark, save for a small light next to the bed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, my lord, I didn’t mean to wake you.” The male voice is quiet in the night.

“What… Whe…” The words stay stuck in his throat. Dry. Thirsty. 

“Here.” The man next to his bed puts a hand behind Loki’s neck to help him up a bit and his lips meet something small and firm. A straw. Water.

Loki wants to sit up more, but the man - a nurse, Loki’s sleepy brain now knows - shushes him. “Careful, my lord, or we’ll wake the princess up too.”

_ My princess. _

Mentioning her makes Loki aware of the warm body that is pressed against his left side, the bed barely large enough to fit two persons. His left arm automatically falls back to the place it was before, around her shoulders, his hand slipping in the warm space between Ylva’s shoulder and neck again. She moves a little in her curled position, her head pushing against the side of his ribcage when she searches for the right spot. She finds it and the night nurse puts the light out.    
  


“Sleep well, my lord.”

 

***

 

Next time he wakes up, the room is bathing in light. Loki watches little specks of dust dance in the sunlight above his bed, consciousness slowly trickling in. 

Awareness comes with a lot of questions.

Like why Ylva is sleeping beside him, curled up against his side with only a thin blanket that separates them. He moved his hand when he woke up, though Loki is pretty sure he was holding the princess in his sleep.    
Careful not to wake her, he observes the girl. He can’t really see her face, because she is snuggled up against his side, one arm slung low over his waist and one of her legs over his. She has her own blanket, pulled up high over her shoulders, mushing her hair up.

_ My princess. _

Loki can’t really explain the thought; or maybe it’s more of a feeling, a deep-rooted knowledge that pops up when he looks at her. Somehow he is not surprised she is in his bed - which is not his own bed, it’s not even his bed in the guestroom in the Alfheim palace -, it sort of makes sense that she is there.  
That and the fact this is probably the infirmary of the palace are the only two things he can make some sense of. Everything else is one big tangled mess in his head, like someone took his memories from the past 24 hours and dumped them in the shredder. There’s only bits and pieces, impossible to stitch back together. 

_ A Dark Elf... Playing a game. with his friends... Almost falling in the pond...  _

He remembers taking off his jacket because it was wet and green with duckweed.

_ Riding his horse with Ylva in front of him, his arm loosely wound around her waist... Snake… Brann… Thor... Poison... _

Did the Dark Elf poison him? Or was it a snakebite? The two things contradict each other. He doesn’t remember seeing a snake, yet it also doesn’t make sense that a Dark Elf would be here on Alfheim. 

_ His mother…. Ulf... Ylva’s hands on his face, her fingers running through his hair.... The sound of her laugh... His princess...  _

Did something happen between him and Ylva? Why would she be in bed with him? 

_ Fighting the Dark Elf... Sharing food by the pond, sitting next to Ylva... A Dark Elf that tried to kidnap his princess… _

Surely his messed up memory is a good indicator as to why he is in the infirmary, with an I.V. attached to his right hand. He lifts his hand, inspecting the needle that goes under his skin. The line is attached to a clear bag, now empty; whatever it was, it is now in his system. 

Loki tries to assess his state of health, to get an idea of what is wrong with him. There are no real physical discomforts, except for a slight headache, an impossibly dry mouth and his left hand feeling a little stiff around the thumb. His mind - or more accurately: his memories - is the biggest problem. His thoughts are a bit sluggish and he has trouble remembering what happened. 

It’s time to get some answers.   
It’s time to wake Ylva up. 

_ My princess _ .

Okay. It’s really time to wake her up. He needs to know what happened to make her ‘my princess’ in his head instead of ‘Ylva, my childhood friend’. Sure, it was a bit awkward between them before with all the teasing and misplaced rivalry; if he is perfectly honest with himself that is caused - for his part at least - mainly because he thinks she is beautiful, funny and pretty much as lovely as can be, all weird things to think about your childhood playmate. Yet he wasn’t planning on doing anything with those new, confusing feelings; if anything he didn’t want to make it weird between them - if it wasn’t already. Loki is a bit afraid to find out how much weirder things are now.

Time to bite the bullet.

He raises himself on his elbows, so he can see her better. The movement takes the cover of his chest away from her face and he can see her squint her eyes before they suddenly fly open.   
The next second, she is up on all fours and hovering over him with a bewildered look on her face. Her knee has missed some very vital part of him by an inch, with the way it is now placed between his legs. And because he has raised himself a little, their faces are very close, the princess staring at him with wide eyes. He can practically hear her heart racing.

Okay.  _ This _ , he can handle. The awkwardness is still there and it gives him some room to play. A smirk forms on his face. “Good morning.”

For one very long second Ylva keeps staring at him, before she looks down and realises what position they are in. With a gasp she sits back on her legs - his leg still in between - and then scrambles to the foot end of the bed when she notices she is still touching him.

Loki can’t help but start laughing at her bewilderment, which earns him a glare from the girl as she pulls her blanket over her as a shield.   
“What? Don’t I get a good morning?”  
When her eyes start to search for the exit, he quickly backpedals. Sitting up straighter so he can reach out with his hand and touch her lower leg, he wills her to look at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” He looks around him and gestures self-consciously to the room they’re in. “Well… I didn’t mean to do  _ all of this _ . Although I’m not exactly sure what any of this  _ is _ .”

Ylva takes a deep breath, slowly lowering the blanket to her waist. Her knees are still pulled up to her chest, though she now wraps her arms around them and leans forward to look at Loki. “You’re in the infirmary,” she says, hesitating a little before she talks again. “Do you… do you remember what happened?”

Loki shakes his head. “Not really. Only fragments that don’t make sense.” He gives her an encouraging smile. “I was kinda hoping you could tell me what happened.”

“Oh boy…” 

He is pretty sure he wasn’t meant to hear that, so he also ignores the blush that is creeping up on her cheeks.   
“Is it bad?”

“Well…” 

“Okay. That bad.” Loki gets the feeling it would be nice if they could just forget about the whole thing, though he still doesn’t know what there is to forget. “You’re here though. You’re still in one piece and so am I. So it can’t be  _ all _ bad, right?”

“Depends on who you’re asking,” Ylva says quietly. 

“You, obviously.” Loki mimics her body language, bracing himself for what is coming.

“It was embarrassing, okay?” She rushes it out, clearly uncomfortable. 

“I embarrassed you?”  She nods in reply, not looking him in the eyes. “How?” When she doesn’t answer, he scoots over a little so he can touch her arm. It seems like a safe place to put his hand, to make her pay attention even though she doesn’t feel like looking at him. “Whatever I have done, I’m sorry. It was never my intention to make you feel bad.”

Ylva shakes her head. “You couldn’t help it… I think. You were hallucinating. A red viper bit you.”

“A snake?” Okay. So that part of his memories was true. “And the Dark Elf?”

“Part of your imagination,” Ylva answers, peeking up at him shortly. “You thought Brann was a Dark Elf. You even pulled a knife on him.” 

“I… I pulled a knife on your brother?”

The girl nods. “We were playing ‘princess in the tower’, do you remember?” At his confirmation she continues with a soft voice. “We were playing… I was the princess, you were the knight. You went after the other boys and at some point you must have been bitten by the snake. You… you started to act weird and you attacked Brann when he was taking me with him.”

“Did I hurt him?” Loki looks around him, although he knows the room is empty save for them.  _ If _ Brann is in the infirmary, he’s not in this room.

“No, nobody was hurt.” Ylva is finally looking at him. “Nothing but some bruises.”

“Did I hurt  _ you _ ?” Loki grips her arm a little tighter, immediately releasing the pressure when he realises what he’s doing. 

Luckily, Ylva shakes her head. “You tackled Brann and me to the ground to… to save me,” she explains awkwardly. “But it wasn’t that bad… you… you were actually pretty sweet to me.”

The prince quickly catches on. “And that is the embarrassing part, isn’t it?”  
From the look on her face he must have been  _ very _ sweet to her. The blush she was already sporting only grows redder.   
Okay, so he acted like some lovestruck fool or something. Embarrassing, yes. Still, better her than one of her brothers. And he’s glad he at least didn’t hurt her.   
He tells her that, smiling at her a little. “Could’ve been worse. At least I didn’t kiss you!”

Wrong choice of words. Or maybe Ylva’s nerves give out. Whatever it is, she is suddenly running from the room, leaving him stuck in the bed with an I.V. in his hand.

  
  


*** 

 

When the doctors finally release him from the infirmary it’s already noon. Frigga takes him back to her room to have a quiet lunch together. Loki is glad he can talk to her in private, he’s not keen on facing his father after having behaved rather odd the other day. He is pretty sure Odin will not look kindly on the fact that a snakebite made him do it;  _ he did it _ , that’s all his father will care about.

“Did Ylva tell you what happened?” Frigga asks when the servants have left the room. 

Loki shrugs, pouring tea for them both. “A bit. Apparently I was out of my mind because of a snakebite and I…” He sags back in his chair. “Well, she didn’t say much… I think I totally freaked her out. Which sucks.”

His mother chuckles lightly. “Well, you  _ were _ a bit of a handful, that’s true.” She soothingly raises her hand when he glares at her. “I actually think Ylva didn’t mind that much.” 

“She ran off this morning!”

“Everything looks different in the light of the morning,” Frigga says gently. “Was it different for you?”

“Of course it was! I can’t remember what ha…”

His mother interrupts him. “I’m not talking about facts. I’m talking about feelings.”

Loki clamps his mouth shut. Feelings. _ My princess _ . He didn’t… did he? He thought he didn’t, but maybe he simply forgot? “I… I didn’t kiss her or anything, did I?”

Frigga is calmly spreading butter on a piece of bread. “As far as I know you did not kiss her, no. Why? Do you want to?”

“Mother!” 

 


	8. Chapter 8 - Ylva

“Where’s your shadow, Ylva?” Ulf calls out as he sees her coming into the common room. “Did your knight in shining armour finally let you of his sight?”

She immediately turns around to leave the room again. Coming here was a mistake. Clearly her brothers won’t let her forget about yesterday. Maybe it’s a good thing they don’t know about last night. They don’t, right?

Ulf has jumped up and grabs her arm before she can leave the room. “Sorry, sis, can’t be helped. Some jokes need to be made,” he says with a wide grin, turning her to walk with him as he slings an arm around her shoulder. “How was spending the night with your beau?”

“You know about that?!” Horror makes Ylva’s eyes go wide. 

Ulf gives her a squeeze. “That you slept in the infirmary because Loki would not let you go? Yeah, we know.”

“What else do you know?”

The grin that sneaks on her brother’s face could not be slyer. “Why? Did something happen?”

“No!” 

“That translates as a big fat yes to me, sis,” Brann pipes up from the sofa. Ylva is not sure if the menace in his voice is meant as a joke or not.

Thor is there too to add his little two cents. “Yeah, little quick on the denial there, princess.” At least from him she knows for sure he is joking, the Asgardian prince is sporting a big toothy grin.

“We slept, all right?!” she grits through her teeth. “He slept. I slept. End of story.”

“It better be,” Brann states and now she definitely hears some anger in it.

Thor slaps her oldest brother on the shoulder. “Don’t fret, Brann. Loki can be a bit of a snake… Ha! Maybe that’s why the snake bit him!” The Asgardian prince laughs heartily from his own stupid joke. “Anyway, snake or not, I’m sure Loki has treated Ylva with respect.”

“He wouldn’t have walked out of that infirmary if he didn’t,” Ylva states firmly, fed up with everybody suggesting anything happened between her and Loki.   
Even Loki with his messed up memory had known they didn’t kiss. He was even happy about it. That had stung. Heck, it still stings now, several hours later.

Ylva lets herself be convinced to stay with her brothers and Thor in the common room. It’s their sitting room, the one room in the palace they can call theirs, besides their bedrooms. When the boys continue their card game, Ylva goes in search of the book she was reading. She had left it here somewhere the other day, maybe one of the servants has put it away. The princess finds the book on a side table next to one of the large armchairs in front of the window. She curls up in the chair with the book, one that Loki picked out from the library earlier this week; he’d recommended it to her, casually dropping it in her hands when they scoured the shelves for something to read that night. It was one of the moments where that awkward feeling between them was gone for a bit. All the awkwardness had come crashing back this morning. And it’s her fault.

It was her choice to sleep next to him. She could have used one of the other beds in the infirmary, then she would still be in the room in case he woke up. But no, she had happily snuggled up against the sleeping prince, foolishly continuing the hallucination even though the poison was being flushed out of his system.

This morning he had been his joking self when he woke up, though his apologies and questions had been sincere. She knows Loki meant her no harm and that he really is sorry for what he did when he wasn’t himself. Yet… somewhere deep down she had hoped that he  _ was _ himself; that there was some truth to his actions, despite his brain spacing out on snake poison. Turns out  _ she _ was hallucinating as well yesterday…

  
  


***

 

When she hears his voice, her first instinct is to crawl deeper into the chair. The back of the chair is towards the door, he can’t see her. And now she is cursing her first instinct, because the longer she will stay hidden, the weirder it will be when she comes out of the chair. Then he definitely will know she was hiding from him. Ylva buries her face in her book, wishing he will leave soon.

“Can I come in?” he asked carefully when he opened the door. 

“Depends on how many knives you are carrying,” was Brann’s short answer.

“None. And I came to apologize to you,” Loki said. “I’m really sorry I attacked you because thought you were a Dark Elf.”

“Yeah, weird mistake, Loki,” Ulf butted in. “Brann is way uglier.”  
From the sounds of it Brann threw a pillow against Ulf’s head in response. But he also accepted Loki’s apology, telling him it wasn’t that big of a deal. 

The boys pulled Loki further into the room and now they were all sitting and talking in the middle of the room.  _ Great. _ Ylva was stuck. Neither of the boys had mentioned she was there, either on purpose or because they’d simply forgot she was there; she had been sitting here for well over an hour before Loki came in. Maybe she was safe if they really forgot about her, if she would just sit as still as possible they wouldn’t notice her.

“Well, Loki? Do you plan of making an honest woman out of my sister?” Ulf teases. Ylva can’t see Loki’s face, though she can imagine he must be embarrassed.  _ She is. _

“I don’t have any reason to believe I did anything that would’ve hurt your sister’s reputation,” Loki answers indignantly.

His answer gets him a chorus of chuckles and laughs, Thor is the loudest. “You don’t remember much, do you, brother?”

Loki groans and Ylva can’t hear what he says in response, though it must have been a negative answer because the others get all hyped up to tell him  _ exactly _ what happened the day before.

It starts with mostly truths, though of course the need to make fun of the situation soon wins.   
“You were the most valiant of knights,” Ulf declares in a haughty voice. He sounds like he is sword fighting the air, Ylva doesn’t have to look to know he does. “Prepared to defend your princess against all evil!”

“You defended your princess most bravely,” Thor adds. “Songs will be sang, poems will be recited!”

“She’s not  _ my  _ princess,” Loki interjects. “Stop saying that.”

“Ha! You should have heard yesterday-you!” Ulf laughs. “It was all you could say,  _ my princess _ this,  _ my princess _ that!”  
It earns him a shove from Loki - probably -, knocking Ulf into the couch. 

“Seriously,” the boy hiccups, still laughing his ass off, “you were all over her. You wouldn’t let her out of your sight.”

“It was kinda cute though,” Thor teases. “You sure have a funny definition of protecting when it comes to  _ your _ princess.”

Loki’s next remark silences everyone. Ylva holds her breath when she hears him say it. “I didn’t kiss her, did I?”

“Not that I saw,” Ulf says slowly after a pauze. “You guys seen anything like that?”

“Think I’d let him alone with her if he did?” That’s Brann, a.k.a. second dad when it comes to his sister and boys.

Thor sounds a lot more amused by the whole thing. “You didn’t get past the stage of cuddling and holding hands. Maybe if we gave you two another hour...”  
There’s some scuffling, followed by Thor’s throaty laugh. “Calm down, brother! I’m just telling it like it is.”

“Yeah, you were all lovey dovey,” Ulf remarks teasingly. “Kissing her would’ve simply been the next step in line.”

“But I  _ didn’t _ . I didn’t do that.” Loki states it clearly, his voice measured.

“Woah there… why are you so hellbent on  _ not _ kissing my sister? Don’t you think she is kissable?” Ulf his question makes Ylva cringe in her seat, biting down on the cover of her book; it’s all she can do to not cry out at his stupidity. Brann thinks the same thing, judging by the strangled noise that comes out of his throat. 

“That’s…!” Loki starts out heatedly, yet his words die out. “That’s not it,” he says much quieter, Ylva can barely hear it. 

“Then what is it?” coaxes Thor. 

His raven-haired brother sighs with frustration. “It’s...I can’t remember most of the stuff I did yesterday. I wouldn’t…” Another groan from Loki before he rushes out his next words. “I wouldn’t want to forget something like kissing her, all right?”

While her brothers and Thor erupt in all sorts of sounds (oohs, aahs, kissing sounds, you name it), Ylva has to slap a hand over her mouth to stay silent. What did she just hear?! And how is she ever gonna be able to look Loki - or anyone in this room for that matter - in the eye after this?

“Shut up, you assholes.” Loki is not faring any better under their banter. “Shut up! And not a word of this to Ylva!”

Now Ulf practically howls with laughter. “Little late for that, dude!” 

_ Oh. Shit. _

“Ylva? You still there, sis?!”

_ Don’t answer. Don’t. I’m not here.  _

Thor’s roar easily drowns out Loki’s despair. “I totally forgot she was sitting there! Odin’s beard! This is fantastic!”

_ No, it’s not.  _

Ulf’s laughter is coming closer, until she knows without looking up from her hands that he is standing next to her chair.

“Leave me alone!”

“Aw, come on, sis! Your knight in shining armour is here! Why don’t you come and say hi?”

“I hate you.”

“Don’t be like that,” Ulf coos. “This is what you wanted, right? He likes you too!”

“I’ll kill you!” Ylva grinds out. “If I don’t die of shame before that.”

Ulf tries to grab her arm to get her up and she shakes his hand off. “Go away!”   
This is all too humiliating. As if yesterday wasn’t enough already!

“Ulf, give your sister a break.” It’s Loki. “Leave her alone.”

Her brother lifts his hands in the air in mock surrender, though he isn’t done talking yet. “It’s your knight, sis. I better do as he says before he pulls a knife on me.”

“ _I’ll_ pull a knife on you if you don’t get the hell away from me!”

Ulf sticks his tongue out to her and saunters off. She can hear him talk to Loki on his way out of the room. “She’s a bit cranky, maybe she didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Come on, we’ll go too,” Thor says to the others. She can hear Brann protest, yet the Asgardian prince shuts him up with a few short sentences. “Bye, Ylva!” he calls out and then she hears the door fall shut behind them.

Ylva lets out a shaky breath. They’re gone. She’s alone.   
Tears well up in her eyes and pretty soon they’re running down her cheeks, making wet streaks down to her jaw. She mad, confused and sad, all rolled into one hard ball of emotions that makes her belly ache. She shouldn’t have hidden away here in this chair, now everything was weird. Weirder than it already was. Super weird. Uncontrollably weird. And humiliating. And infuriating. Confusing too. Ylva had no idea what to do now, if she ever dared setting foot outside this room. They still had another week to go before the Asgardians would go back home. Maybe she could camp out in this chair for the remainder of their stay, that way she didn’t have to face Loki anymore. A loud sob escapes her when she thinks of him. She messed everything up!

“Please don’t cry.” 

_ Oh _ .

“I thought you all had left.” Her voice cracks, leaving nothing to guess about how she’s feeling. 

“I… I stayed… I wanted to talk to you,” Loki says timidly. “I… I can leave, if you want.”

“No…” Ylva shakes her head. “It’s okay.”

Loki crouches down in front of the chair, gingerly putting a hand on her knee. “I’m sorry,” he says. “About everything.”

She sniffles, quickly wiping a hand across her eyes. “It wasn’t your fault, was it? Not yesterday and not now.”

“Still, I feel responsible.” Loki rubs his thumb across her knee. “And I haven’t properly thanked you yet for putting up with me yesterday. Even my own mother said I was a handful and that’s saying something.”  
Ylva smiles through her tears.  
“So, thank you for being my princess yesterday.”

“You really _ did  _ say that a lot.”

Loki laughs freely. “So I’ve been told, yes.”

“You said it  _ a lot _ a lot.” Ylva dares looking at him, trying to forget she probably is red in the face from crying. If she is, Loki doesn’t acknowledge it, he simply smiles at her.

“Well… maybe I did because it’s true.” Loki clears his throat. “Or rather... I want it to be true.”

Ylva gulps before she finds her voice again. “Still a smooth talker, I see.”  
The smirk on Loki’s face is confident, though his eyes search her face for affirmation. This is her friend, the boy she has known since they were kids. The boy who looked so different when he came back, different but the same. The boy she has liked for as long as she can remember, who now is telling her he likes her too.   
“Are you gonna be my knight, then?”

Loki finds her hand without looking, linking their fingers. “I will, my princess.”


End file.
